FOX ! in my driveway?

Ok, I will tell my best fox story. Years ago, on our honeymoon in Canada fishing. (yes, we went fishing on our honeymoon, the boarder patrol didn't believe it either and tore apart our camper and truck) After cleaning the fish at night, we hung the remains in a bag up on a post of DH aunt's cabin we were staying in. The next day the bag would be gone. DH thinking it was a bear, leaned a rake against the bag next night to make some noise. Sure enough, next night we hear a rattle. Going to the door and peeking through the window we see the prettiest red fox jumping up to get the bag of fish inerds. DH ran outside and started chasing the fox around our truck and boat barking like a dog. It was our honeymoon, he was totaly naked. Well, now this was a sight I just had to see and turned on the porch light to watch the show. The next day we met the neighbor. When DH introduced me as his new bride he exclaimed "ahhhhhh!" as if this explained everything. I laughed so hard I cried. I told the story many times, of course, and later that year we went with some family and my 99 year old grandfather back up there. DH was mowing the grass, looked up and there was the fox, sitting on a stump looking at him. He grabbed the camera and got within 20 feet of the guy, while he posed for pictures. (the film was bad and never got the pictures). My grandfather looked out the window and said "Hey, he even recognizes you with your clothes on!"

Oh, my! Precious story! LOL

I hope he doesn't find out that I told it to the world.

that is a great story...and your grandfather has such a great sense of humor:)

Dern! fox is in the yard and my camera is in the car (that problem w/be resolved after it leaves). There are actually two of these gray foxes, It is the smaller of the two is here today.

Last visit was from the larger of them. For some reason they seen to be knocking on the wall of the house when they enter the porch to eat. Or the cat is banging against it when fleeing.

I really need to set up a vid cam on the porch and hook it to an unused computer and monitor when I am not here. Got the equipment, it may give me something to work on for awhile. Boredom sets in when not working for a very short period of time. I've a good movie collection on DVD but have watched (or slept through) them all a couple of times now.

Looked out the front door around dusk this evening and there was a fox on the front porch. I refilled the cat bowls for it.

The DW is really afraid of the foxes, even though I explained to her that they are much more frightened of her than vice versa.

Any ideas?

That kind of puts you between a rock and a hard spot, if you're hoping to befriend the foxes. If someone is afraid, there's probably little you can do to aleviate that fear. My DH is 6'5", 240#, and has a thing about birds. He was tom turkey'd as a youngster, and even seeing birds through the window at the nature park nearly made him get sick.
Fortunately, he is able to enjoy my enjoyment of them, even walking outside one night to within 3-4 feet of my little screech owl.

Is there a rehab center/group in your area? If so, perhaps you might set up a special appointment for the two of you to visit and handle some of the young animals.

I don't think she will get over her fears and I don't think the pair of foxes will ever calm down enough to befriend. I will continue to put out extra cat food and water for them & enjoy the occasional sighting. They really are beautiful animals.

If she feels safe as she watches, she may come around. It is all about feeling safe. She may learn to love them. I have heard of it happening.
I got over my fear of spiders by looking at spider pictures and watching that horrible aricnifobia (sp) movie. I knew I was safe when looking at pictures or the movie, and learned to tolorate them. Still do not care to have them crawling on me, but I can be in the same room with one.

Catching up and enjoying all the stories. Maybe moving the cat food off the porch will make your wife feel better Dyson.

I wish that she could meet Snarf. (Named after a character from the old He-Man cartoon) She is the little red fox that I have been rehabbing (as if a fox could ever change!) for the past three months. Snarf started out with us at a week old and was raised in the house with lots of playtime and stimulation. She loved to chase and play with the cats, but the dogs never had the speed to keep up with her. Her favorite game was to run and bounce off the dogs back onto the couch. She stayed in the house always sleeping in her crate) until she and I got in a royal battle in front of the refrigerator (involving the roast for dinner that night) There was a lot of barking, snapping and peeing on the floor. By the time my husband made it into the room, I had regained custody of the roast and Snarf was glaring from the corner. We taught her to hunt with mice in the bathroom. (Thank goodness she never missed). The last few nights she has been restless in her pen outside and I heard her barking last night. I know this means that she is ready to be released. It will be hard, but I know she is ready.

Even though she has been hand raised by humans, she won't let anyone approach her but me, (she runs and hides) Foxes never really tame like cats and dogs and will always hunt at every opportunity. Two of their main foods are mice and grasshoppers, so tell your wife that they can be good to have around (unless you have chickens). She will never have to worry about the fox attacking her or cats or dogs. While they will defend themselves if cornered, they prefer to run. You can't surprise a fox either as their hearing is acute and they can hear in all directions around them. Their nose is more sensitive than bloodhounds and is one of the fastest animals existing. If you ever get the chance to examine one close up, you'll see that they have soft fur on the pads of their feet and claws like a cat (though non-retractable). Reds are excellent tree climbers.

I never had the opportunity to raise a single kit before and got to know this one more than the ones raised in litters. She is vocal, funny, smart (way too smart to train) and amazingly playful. She used to pounce and play like a kitten and I swear has a sense of humor. I wish your wife could spend some time with her, as she would change anyone's mind about foxes. (Well, maybe not a chicken farmer)

It's been a joy and a prividlidge to raise her and as hard as it will be to see her go, it will be a wonderful moment to see her run free without fences or restrictions. It will also be nice to have a pot roast without tiny teeth marks.

The photo is Snarf with a friend when she was about 10 weeks old

She is beautiful and your eyes are almost the same color!

I never knew so many people were into rehabbing. Who brings them to you?

Everybody from the DNR to preschool teachers who find birds on the playground. Snarf came to me from a family who found her cowering in a den that coyotes had killed the mother and all her littermates. I don't know how they missed her.

If you look on the internet there are lists of rehabbers and vets, humane societies and police usually have numbers and names too. One of the deputies I know, has my number written on the visor in his patrol car!

Haven't seen either of the "gray pair" for a couple of days now, Wonder en if the boys w/the loud guns next door got them. On a brighter note the are squrriels at the feeder again.

Snarf & the lady holding it are both foxxes!

I'll tell her. It will make her day!

Ohhhhh, Dyson! I hope your foxes are just visiting elsewhere. I hate the thought of them being killed! I am broken hearted when I see a roadkilled fox, and if I thought my neighbors were shooting them I'd report it. Killing for the sake of killing is criminal to me

I so enjoy watching "mine" get up on the birdfeeder at night. DH and I were sitting outside last night when one of them jumped up there, and we were only about 20 feey away. Our presence didn't seem to concern the always wary creature.

The lil' red fox is adorable!

In the old days here, there was a bounty on fox. I saw a few when I was a kid, but most were mangy.
Now the few I see look quite heathy and beautiful.

Yesterday morning my wife said there was a 'possum on the front porch eating the cat food when she left for work. It retreated when she banged on the front screen door. And then she saw one of the foxes before she cleared the driveway and hit the street.

My next door neighbor told me that the foxes have a den in the woods on the other side of his house close to the creek. I am only concerned that the population will get to the point that they become a problem. The rate that their natural habitat is disappearing around here Is fairly high as the area having new construction all around the lake area.

The kits won't stay very close. Mom gets rid of them in late summer. I hope you get to see the kits. They are truly wonderful to watch play. A fox has a territory of about one square mile with the males wanddering through in the spring. They do adapt well in areas of light population and frequently use culverts for dens. Unless people have chickens or ducks, foxes hardly ever pose a problem. Not at all like coyotes, who are invasive and have been known to cause many problems.

It was verified today - one of the neighbors boys shot one of the foxes (I do not know which one).

Aawww Dyson, that's too bad.

Jylgaskin, (I meant to say her eyes were the same color.) Poor little orphans. At least you give them a chance at life.

I think it's time to do something about the boys next door. What will they start shooting when they run out of foxes? Please, call the DNR. You won't have to give your name. In Michigan, we have a 24 hour hot line. They are taking something away that belongs to all of us.

Especially after you enjoyed feeding them.

Bummer, Dyson. That's really a shame. ;-( I hate when they get hit on the road, and this is worse.

I agree with jylgaskin that it should be reported. Not only are they robbing us all, but some very bad people start with helpless animals. It's not good they should get away with this.

I hope the rest of the foxes survive the ignorance and stupidity. Keep us posted, please. I have an afinity with the foxes here.

hurting with you..........

Last evening the cat food bowl was visited by a young 'possum, yesterday, while looking in the shed for something, I discovered that one of the cats had deposited a kitten into the small filing cabinet (to the best of my knowledge it is still there). Yes that will teach me about leaving the filing cabinet open.

I have not seen a fox in quite awhile now.

Hi all...jumping in here with a fox story...hope no one minds?

We are on 80 acres and there is an old springhouse that has been home to a family of red fox for most of the ten years we've been here.

In late winter, early spring we hear the female calling her special siren song and know there will be kits on the way. This spring there were two in the litter. We watch them in the mornings as they play hide and seek and tag around some straw bales that haven't been spread as mulch yet. They are so fast and agile and it's so funny to watch one pretend to be surprised by the other and leap straight up into the air.

I saw daddy fox taking a rather large rodent to their den last week....still quite alive so the young are obviously ready to learn to hunt for themselves.

Mine come right up to the fenced yard and sit and commune with my three dogs. They seem to enjoy the company and the dogs like them, too.

Did you know some foxes mate for life? Although a young female will often "try out" a few different mates until she finds her life partner (not a bad deal, eh ladies?).

My life would be far less interesting without my wild friends. I am sorry, Dyson, that your neighbor boys took the fox. I am sad for them and for you. Luckily, because they do only range about a mile...mine are safe on "my" farm.

Love everyone's foxy stories..thanks for letting me join in.......Jan

When I was their age, many, many, many years ago - I may have done the same as I had not developed the appreciation for the wildlife that I now have. They are young, bold, and killing with a gun seems to be attractive at that point in life.

I hope there are kits in the nearby woods that will mature. If there are I figure they will be in the area longer than the boys, who are at the age to move from their parents house and become immersed in the world. I wish them luck as well.

Thank you for your fox story. If you ever get a chance - pics would be appreciated.

Dyson, please don't think I was criticizing the neighbor boys or hunters in general. I understand reality. And boys will be boys. I was mostly sad because I think of them as "your foxes" *smile*

Pictures? Love to!

First......young one hunting.....

Edited for typo

This message was edited Jul 8, 2007 9:46 AM

Success!

MY snack!!!

Yum!

Dyson, I hope one day soon you are able to enjoy your little foxes again. I know my life would be far less interesting if my visitors were to stop coming around. I find myself checking many times during the dark hours to see if they're up on the feeder. Recently, I've not seen but one, so am hoping nothing has happened to the other.

Thanks tg! I always enjoy wildlife images, and foxes are so special to me. I've never seen a red on this side of the mountain, but they must be here somewhere. Or perhaps they don't mingle where the grays do?

Dyson, I too can understand the boys. Kids don't think things like that are important. Maybe someday they'll have a fox of their own.

Jan, that is wonderful, and the best pictures I've seen.

Years ago DH came home on 2nd shift and came in and got me. He saw kits playing in the corn up our gravel road. We crept up and I got to see three of them play for a few minutes. It was so cute!

Well there have been no fox visits for a few days now, but I am not considering them extinct from the area.

Last year my wife bought a feeder for the squirrels. I nailed it to a tree above a place where they could eat and loaded it with corn on the cob. It is right outside a back kitchen window, where we could sit, sip our coffee and watch them decimate the corn cobs.
Later in the year the squirrels stopped coming by to feed (both of them) and Sue commented that they must have been killed off. Now there are four that visit daily.

There will be more gray foxes visit, like I said the boys are at the age to move on, and I will still be here unless Sue kicks me out. (then she would have to feed the squirrels herself, do not see that happening).

The fox will come back, it may take a year, but as soon as others find there is open territory, they will move in (especially if there is an empty den).

I don't think they were the reason the squirrels dissapeared. They aren't a favorite food of foxes, but a hawk family in the neighbourhood will drive them into deep hiding. I have at least 20 that hang out here, but when the hawk starting sitting on the telephone pole across the street, they vanished for a couple of weeks. Hawk moved on, squirrels are back begging on the windosills.